China Vanke Expands to the US with San Francisco Property Deal

China Vanke Co, the largest Chinese stock exchange listed developer, has just closed its first property deal in the US real estate market, acquiring 70% of a residential project in San Francisco owned by Tishman Speyer Properties LP. The two companies signed the deal on February 12, according to an update posted by Vanke’s Chairman Wang Shi on Weibo, a microblogging platform similar to Twitter.

“Good enterprises in the 21st century must have global and international vision,” Wang (pictured right) wrote in his microblogging update, commenting on the deal.

As Bloomberg reported, the details on the stake purchase were released in a note to clients issued by Jinsong Du, a Hong Kong-based property analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG, who claimed to have had the information from Vanke sources. The project in question will comprise a little under 700 residential units upon completion. No further details were released by any of the two companies.

The San Francisco development acquisition is Vanke’s first deal outside Asia. Shortly before this new venture, the company’s Hong Kong branch jointly won a bid for a site in the city, its first in the market, which is worth HK$3.43 billion ($442 million). The Shenzen-based developer set up international units after absorbing a Hong Kong developer in May 2012, aiming to expand overseas.

The San Francisco project will mainly address buyers in mainland China, Credit Suisse stated, quoting Vanke’s management. The new acquisition didn’t help the developer’s shares, which have reached the lowest value in three weeks. The new investment is currently pending approval from the Chinese government.